Features

Engineering firm Exergia completes vital communication route using innovative construction methodology. The devastation caused by a 35-year armed conflict has led to a high state of degradation of Angola’s network of roads and bridges, presenting a significant impediment to the country’s recovery. In 2002, the Government of Angola created an extensive rehabilitation and reconstruction program of the road system. As part of this program, the rehabilitation of National Highway 120, the main road linking

As introduced in an important new publication, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) has a longstanding commitment to promoting and creating an enabling environment for Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). The world’s citizens depend on safe, efficient and secure transport systems. Whether we travel by road, boat, rail or air, we rely on our transportation systems to get us where we need to go. The same systems play an important role in our national economic well-being, making it poss

IRF Geneva actively involved in the launch of the UNECE strategy package on ITS that is expected to mark a milestone for future United Nations activities on ITS. High-level speakers, governments, experts and academia from all around the world gathered in Geneva on 28th February for a landmark ‘kick-off’ session aimed at positioning ITS more prominently on the policy makers agenda and to contribute to the policy-segment and launch of the new UNECE strategy package on ITS. The strategy package contains

Urban mobility is high on the infrastructure agenda in Mexico. Business News Americas spoke with Salvador Herrera, executive director of the Centre for Sustainable Transport (CTS), about the elements of a sustainable transport system and Mexico City's addiction to the car At the heart of Mexico City's transport policy is a contradiction that is typical of the country as a whole. The government is spending big on Line 12 of the metro system and has introduced the first Metrobús bus rapid transit (BRT) l

A combination of engine and driveline technologies will reduce fuel consumption and increase performance in new generation, low emission machines A wide array of new engine and driveline technologies being developed will help reduce emissions and fuel consumption, while increasing performance in the latest machines coming to market. With engine manufacturers focussing on the Tier 4 Interim/ Stage IIIB and following Tier 4 Final/Stage IV emissions requirements for North America and Europe, sophisticated

Ethiopia is pursuing a 10-year $2.4 billion development plan, part of which are ambitious road developments. Shem Oirere reports Ethiopia is hastening its pace towards accessing a share of the East Africa commodity market and opening itself up for foreign investment through the implementation of an ambitious road development strategy, the Road Sector Development Programme (RSDP). The landlocked nation has convinced a number of international lenders of the viability of RSDP, with some of them now loosening

The use of GPS-inclusive technology is proving invaluable to contractors responsible for major transport-related construction projects across the globe. Guy Woodford looked at some of the latest and imminent site solutions featuring GPS Staff at Trimble Heavy Construction based in Sunnyvale, California recently finished developing three new solutions for connecting the construction site. The Trimble Connected Office, the Trimble Connected Controller and the Trimble Connected Machine, are all now available t

Legislative and economic factors are impacting upon the earthmoving equipment market - Mike Woof reports No-one who has any connection with the construction equipment sector can have failed to notice that increasingly tough emissions legislation has changed the shape of machines over the last 10 years or so. A series of targets have been set and met with regard to the exhaust emissions permitted from off-highway machines used in North America and Europe. The latest round of requirements has seen the intr

An innovative solution to providing vital, low-impact surface water control for one of Britain’s largest local authority road schemes is said to have been recently achieved using Hydro International’s (HI) Hydro Vortex Drop Shaft  ow control technology. The new 7km bypass built by Costain at Church Village, near Pontypridd, South Wales, required careful planning to minimise its effect on the countryside and the local environment. Rhondda Cynon Taff Council needed to bypass Church Village to reduce traf c

A massive construction project has been underway deep in the heart of the Schnecktal valley area in Germany. From the surface, though, you would never be able to tell. The majority of the work is underground, as a joint-venture team led by German contractor Wayss and Freytag Ingenieurbau builds the nearly 7km long Finne Tunnel. After a few years of tunnel boring operations, the contractor is at work finishing the interior of the tunnel, slipforming first the tunnel’s floor and then a walkway with its GOMACO

New technologies are coming to market with regard to driving and supporting tunnels, with drilling and blasting and accompanying shotcreating technologies being widely used worldwide. Drilling and blasting can be a cost-effective method in the right conditions and in this segment Atlas Copco and Sandvik hold major market shares worldwide, although other firms such as Furukawa and Montabert also compete. Shotcreting equipment is widely used following after drilling and blasting, with CIFA broadening its rang

Infrastructure investment means that the road tunnel construction sector is healthy due to demand for new links – Mike Woof reports With many emergent nations investing heavily in infrastructure, the tunnelling sector is seeing extensive business at present. Tunnels provide key links in mountainous areas or in congested cities where building roads on the surface may not be practical. In Asia and Latin America, many key road connections are now being built underground to pass challenging terrain or provide

Asphalt plants were recently delivered for use in the biggest road construction project in Latin America. Meanwhile, a US navy base has just received a plant Guy Woodford reports Spanning around 1,000km, the Ruta del Sol highway in Colombia is the largest road build works currently taking place in Latin America. Brazilian company Odebrecht, part of the Ruta del Sol Concessionaire group working on sector 2 of the highway stretching 528km from Puerto Salgar to San Roque, connecting the capital Bogota to the

Sateco says its new detensioning spacer unit being showcased at this month Intermat 2012 event in Paris is a world first for the construction industry. The product is fitted with a side nut that acts as a valve, releasing the force acting on the formwork rod after concrete has dried. When the side nut is manoeuvred, the detensioning spacer unit is moved, thus releasing the pressure acting on the main nut. The main nut is then easier to unscrew, allowing faster and less strenuous form removal. Product design

RMD Kwikform has supplied its 80kN Rapidshor shoring for the widening of the Tolo Highway, running between the Island House Interchange and Tai Hang in Hong Kong. The project, overseen by main contractor Gammon Construction and set to be completed by the end of 2013, will widen the Tolo Highway from a two to four-lane carriageway in each direction, alleviating traffic congestion. “We were approached by [project] sub-contractors, United Soundfair and Richwell Engineering to supply shoring and formwork suppor